You don't need a column like this to tell you that
concocting a great headline and visual are critical to creating an
effective ad. You already know that. But there's another
component to ad-making that's an equal, if not greater,
challenge: figuring out how to lasso the prospect into reading the
rest of the ad. It's not easy, no matter how well-crafted your
message. It's much simpler to get attention than to hold it.
Persuading readers to go beyond the clever phrasing in the heading
and the eye candy of the visual requires some special, complex
thinking.

That's what the people in Gillette's Braun
division accomplished with this ad for the company's new
self-cleaning shaver. This ad gets an A+ in many departments, but
special kudos go to those who designed body copy that's
inviting to read. By housing the five breezy questions and answers
in a little five-tiered table (similar to the one found in the
"tools" pull-down menu on many computers), the copy looks
refreshingly different from the typical paragraph format and is
therefore tempting to read. Not only that, it's a
smile-inducing set of Q&As ("Will it make me more
handsome? No, it's not that revolutionary.") The
information here is light on detail, though; it would have been
effective to point out that a self-cleaning shaver would yield a
closer shave.

The company's ad-makers took advantage of the product's
leaning tower position while in its base (which allows cleaning
fluid to drain), making it especially interesting to view. Any
product that's off-kilter in an ad is much more striking. That
rule also applies to the shaver's clever, asymmetrical
placement slightly left of center in the ad.

Finally, a few comments on the headline. It's much smaller
than you'll find in most ads, but the product is so unique-and
unique to look at-that the brains at Braun probably figured it
could do the heavy lifting in the ad. The wording of the headline
is great, too: "Get yourself a new shaver. But don't ever
bother to clean it." Releasing the reader from the
"bother" of cleaning eliminates one of the many perceived
hassles of using an electric razor.

There are at least three simple techniques you can borrow from
this ad: setting body copy inside a table to create extra interest,
placing your product asymmetrically off-center to draw a
viewer's attention, and using a catchy headline that promises
to liberate your potential customer from one of life's little
inconveniences.

Jerry Fisher is a
freelance advertising copywriter and author of Creating
Successful Small Business Advertising.